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1! W 1 oin if!ft " yoLl.M^nI_ >X5[BER i NEWBERRY, S. C? TUESDAY, JANUARY t, 19I?. TWICE A WEEK, $1.50 A YEAR.{SECRET ASSOCIATION IOF KERSHAW FARMERSPUBLIC MEi'TIM; HELD SEAR jI rcofF OX H lis I . Jf Former Governor Cole. L. Blease and JSenator Jno McLaurin DeliverAddresses.Special to The Herald and News. ILugoff, Jan. 1.?That the farmers of |South Carolina ire closely and thor- |ouerhly studying economic questions: it:hat they are teginning to face the? . which| confront them in aiusiness-nke niriner, and that theyare in^earnest n an attempt to get\ogether and sund together, for theprotection of th fruits of their laborv;as strikingly evidenced at a publicgathering of theFarmers' Secret association,held atlPine Grove schoolhouse, near herl in Kersha'-v county,today. The mfi-ng, which was attendedby between />&and 600 of KerI show's farmers, was adcressec o*y rormerGovernor C->le. L. Bleise and State"Warehouse 8cK>.rBlssioner John L. McLaurin.wFrom time tc time items in regardto this Farmers' Secreta association,which is spreading ove*. Sr*th Carolina,have creppinto the newspapers.Yery little in regard to it is knownby those outside the circle, however,:or it seems t> live up to its name,Emitting only those who are eligible,and then scing about its business iif asystematic way, and keeping its affairsig itself. The Mon. Newton Kelly, whopresided o?*er the meeting and introducedthe'SUta'^ers tcfeily, said that the[.association* this community beganwith three members, of which he wasone, and that the local lodge nownumberednicie than one hundredfarmers, the membership having grownto this ntfrnb^r without any specialeffort on the" part of any one. the membershaving come involuntarily.01" *% \rehouse whichhad bBQ''Tectedb;y le farms of thert A ? V A ^ - - J.Icomm^BT, a Du eling Toxsuxiou reei,with iHtal ropf^now containing betweenHO and 00 balesK of cotton,which Bjoyed a ow rate of insurancefcrd w'.Mse i^ceipts commanded moneyat 6 y ffl cent by r?ason of the statewarehouse system, vhich he character4zed as one of the lost advanced stepswhich had been taen by any state inthe South since th- War Between t'neStates. The last Igislature, he said,tried to -kill it, notbecause they wrereprejudiced against he warehouse system,because they Hew in their heartsthat it was a goodthing, but "on accountof political eeling against theman who started Any man that^ J ^ i r< ? rtf fitw in uu a luiiig i.\.e i/iidt is uw in.to represent the conty that sent himthere," he s"aid amj applause. "Theshoe pinches," he cntinued, "becausetiie state warehou^; system has reducedthe rate of \terest on money"borrowed on cotton^o 6 per cent, andthey know if theiy c;k lend noney at *per cent on cotton' aft?? it>is made,the people will rea ize that they canjust as easily lend money at 6 perc.nt on other things for tie makingof cotton." . |Former Governor Blejse.t Former Governor Blease began hisaddress by saying that the ^formers asas other classes ought o organize."Your interests are no properlyprotected in t'ne legislatur< of yourB state.'* he said, "and never .ill be solong as the legislature is (ominated^B and controlled by corporatio. lawyers."Those, and the people t'a?.y controlHi are th^^people who are today fighting^^rlcLajirin and the state Warehousekmf Because, when the varehouseBn causes the rate of iiterest toglcluced from 8 and 10 aid 12 perBo 6 per cent, that hurt* the corBonsthat these men r-present. 'B] all the corporation belonged.B traced down to their , fountainIae said, to tne same mchey powliclicentered in Wa; street,iie corporations stood Jogether*>t men in the legislator* to reppthsirinterests. The fapners, liejmould Organize closely andUf to protect themselves.i 'stacked the last legislature forI -ease of taxes and "the creation&?ss offices1 jfcferring i>articiilk>tha t9T J^Bnieoinn !/>V. Hi?erized as SBg biggest blujfft off on -rB|oplet c^ted byj?opat?.on for l^ir ownIpurposes,and the *tate board of charities,whose secretary drew as mucnsalary as the governor of the state,j with an assistant at $1,800 a year?j officers whose duty it was to go aroundl and see "that the chain gangs were[ worked properly, and the jails keptI clean, and the penitentiary swept out.''I[ All these reforms, he said, he hadJ fought for as governor, and had efjfected some of them, and reform wasI needed and should be had, but it was| the duty of those vested with theproper authority to make them, andj the board of charities, running aroundever the state making recommendations,was a waste of the people'smoney.Un eoir? tliQ locriclaturci hart attpmnt.ixv, caiu liiv^ ^ w^. ? ied to fool the people on the state levy,| fixing it at ~->Vz mills, but that in realityis was " mills, there being an extralevy of 1 mill for pension and % millfor the state hospital for the insane.He said that Senator McLaurin deservedthe credit for the warehousesystem, and rhat it was "the extra ses|sion of the legislature called byj Blease" that gave it to the people,i thrmj^h the efforts of Senator McLau| rin. He told of a gentleman who cameto his office wanting to borrow $6,500.That man, he said, was a large farmer,his lands being worth from $100 to$200 an acre, but ne could not'borrowa cent of money either on his land orhis cotton. "I sent him to McLaurinfo: state warehouse receipts on hiscotton, and within thirty minutes hehad borrowed his $6,500, and he got itat 6 per cent interest."Hp said nobody wanted to injure thehigher institutions of learning, butthey were ^Jng extravagantly supported,and he referred to the borrowingof $S5,000 by Clemson last year,and $100,000 being asked for this year-mnoey, he said, which would neverbe paid back: Clemson, he said, wouldbe of just as much benefit to the peopleof the state if she were run economically.The idea of these demonstrators,he said, "going around teachingthe farmers how to plant pinders.These farm demonstrators are goingaround pretending to deliver farm lectures, but in reality they are preachingpolitics, and using their offices for politicalpurposes."He said the year 1915 had writtenthe bloodiest record South Carolinahad ever known?16 white women havingbeen criminally assaulted, andmore murders having been committedthan during any previous year. Hesaid that with all this crime, not onesingle bit of it had been laid to thedoor of any of the convicts he had paroledor pardoned with the exceptionof one "poor crazy fellow who theysay killed a woman and then committedsuicide?but if you will take thetestimony and read it 1 believe youwill come to the conclusion that .thewoman in her shamp and depredationkilled him and then herself." He referredto a letter which he said wasthe direct cause of the Winnsborotragedy. "I have a letter in my possession,"he said, "written by SheriffHood--l have never mentioned it beforebecause I did not care to bringpolitics into that trial. I have a letterwritten by Sheriff Hood to Clyde Isenhower,and in that letter he said thesewords: 'I have got to protect the prisoneraY all hazards or lose my commission,Governor Manning has alreadytold me that.' -The life of Hoodand the life of Boulware and the lifeof Isenhower are charged directly andpositively to the office where these instructionswent out, 'that you mustprotect that infernal brute at all harzards.'and Hood, acting under the fearof losing his office, shot Clyde Isenhower,for which he died."He said he was not a candidate forgovernor for his own ambition, andif the people he represented wouldagree on any one man he would withdrawin his favor. But that was theonly thing that would take him out ofthe race?he proposed to fight the people's,battle. There would never bepolitical peace in South Carolina, hesaid, so long as one faction turned outall the other faction as soon as it gotin office?the faction now in powereven exceeded its authority in turningruit snrnp it. no risrht to turn out.and who were reinstated by the supremecourt (referring to the case of,Sheriff Huckabee of Kershaw, who wason the stand). "You can't expect ajDago in-jCnarleston to obey a law thewisdom of which is doubtful, whenevery day the highest officials are vio- jiating tie fundamental law of the'I J Mi slate, such as increasing the salary' cf the superintendent of the state hos!pital to double the amount allowed, by law." He urged the people to standi together and elect men to the legisla'ture who would truly represent theirinterests, and not serve only the cor.porations.! - - - .... IHe briefly referred to 111s pianorm,; including the warehouse system! 2centpassenger rate; local option bycounties for the control of the whiskey1 Iquestion; liberal support of Confeder-j; ate veterans; libertl support for the ]i ;; state institutions for white boys and ,!i girls; building up the free school sys!tern; 6 per cent interest; a rural credit:| system; abolition of useless offices; re;duction of taxation, decrease of pres!ent-day lawlessness; laws to protect; labor in legitimate purposes and capitalin lawful investments; repealingthe provision of the constitution payingaaa a - - ?~ ? C /> Itrrt n nrrrA I?f>-,UUU 10 Hie lauui)' ui a. l.mtucu ut^xu, ,and providing that no officer elected :by the people shall be removed from !j office unless convicted by a jury.Senator Jno. L. McLanrin.Senator iM.cLaurin was introducedby Chairman Kelly, as the "man whohas done more for the farmers of this jstate in a short period of time than; any other man since the war."j Senator McLaurin briefly sketched jthe inauguration of the system, and ;told of the bitter fight which had beenwa.?pd asainst it by the financial inter- i| ests and the insurance trust. He told ;: of how the system nad reduced the in- \!surance rate on country cotton from i| $3.50 per hundred dollars, on a shorttermcancellation basis, to $1.58 per {hundred, on a pro 'rata cancellation ibasis, a saving of considerably moreI than 60 per cent, and of how the char|acter of the state receipt had been es;tablished in the money centers, and! maney secured upon the state receiptat 5 and 6 per cent interest at a time( when it was well-nigh impossible to |: borrow money in South Carolina at jo-mi- rQto nf intprpst on anv kind of !security. \The real fight against the state warehouse system, he said, had a deeperj foundation, however, than the fact that", money could be borrowed on the state! receipt at 6 per cent, and that insur- j! ance rates had been enormously re|duced. '"Through all the ages," he>said, "your forefathers and my forefathershave been waging a fight forpt rsonal liberty. People are now comingto understand that the man whocontrols your source of income, the Iman who controls your labor?whocontrols your means of subsistence?controls 'you, and that this control isI being exercised through the subtle injfluence of the money power; that there| is no liberation for the people untilj you can free them from financial slaviery, and the moment you break thechains of that bondage, then and thenonly will we have a free citizenship.Here is the reason they oppose thestate" warehouse system: I said atSpartanburg last summer that themoney of this country belongs to theDeonle of this country; that nobodyhas any more right to a monopoly of jmoney than to exercise a monopoly ofj anything else; that money is nothingin the world but a medium of exchange,and that in a certain sense itj is a common Carrier, like a railroad ortelegraph company, and that intere#rates are nothing but carrying charges,like freight to a railroad, or tolls to atelegraph or telephone company. Thatis the movement of which the statewarehouse system is the exponent inthe South, and if they can destroy it,then they break the back of the move- Jment and rivet the chains on (you. Thatis the reason I haven't been willing toretire from the position which thepeople of this state, through their legislature,'put me in, for I have beenable to call every trick which themoney power has attempted to make,and with the help of God I will neverstop until we have made the pound ofcotton the unit of -credit, and thie samein the hands of the poor man as in thehands of the rich."In the face of the disastrous conditioncreated by the war, he said, we hadbeen able to maintain the price of thi3year's crop at from 11 to 13 cents apound, and for the first time in thehistory of t'he crop the tenant and thepoor man have received the benefit ofthe high price. "The balance of thecrop is in the hands of strong men,able to carry it, and we will make thempay back some of that four hundredmillion dollars that they stole from usI In 1914. (They will not get the cotton7ANOTHER USER SUNKWITH LOSS OF LIVES[ BRITISH STEAMER PERSIA TORPEDOEDIN MEDITERRANEAN.Robert 3IcXeely of North Carolina,American Consul to Arabia,Among the Missing.London, Jan. 1.?The British linerPersia, carrying more than 200 passengers and a crew of between 250and 300 men, was sunk by an unidentifiedsubmarine at 1 o'clock Thursdayafternoon off the island of Crete,in the eastern Mediterranean. Reportsto the Peninsular and OrientalSteam Navigation company sui'd thatnearly all on board were lost. RobertMcXeely of Monroe, X. C., Americanconsul at Aden, Arabia, and RobertGrant of Boston were on the liner.Four boats are known to have gotaway from the sinking vessel, eacncapable of carrying 60 persons, but itis not know iS the boats were fullThe rescued were picked up by asteamer bound for Alexandria, wherethev are exnected to arrive todav.Peninsular and Oriental line officialssaid they received no details concerningthe disaster and did not knowwhether the Persia received warning.They also were unable to give any informationconcerning Americans onthe ship.Cable communication with th?East is so slow that details of thedisaster are not expected for a day ortwo, but the meagre reports receivedgive rise to the fear that the sinkingof the Persia will prove the most disastrousresult of submarine campaignsince the torpedoing of the Lusatania.But Little Information.Every efforts is being made by Conjon hand now until they paiy our price,| and they are beginning to realize thati fact."Senator McLaurin said that in his| forthcoming report to the general as#sembly, which he wanted the farmersto read, he was going to expose themachinations of the trusts whic'n hadbeen fighting the state warehouse system,and was going to offer to submitto the legislature the proof that thesetrusts were operating in violation ofboth state and national laws, and hehoped the legislature would take upthe matter for investigation ana pusnit. His reference to several matterswith which he will deal in his annualreport created a great deal of surmise,and the report will be looked for witnmuch interest.The state warehouse system, he said,had experienced a rapid growth anddevelopment; what it needed now wasthe active backing of the farmers andthe business people of the state in itscontinued fight in their interests. "Itis time," he said, "for the farmers ofSouth Carolina to rise up and assertthemselves." He said he believed inthe organization of t'ne farmers, andthey had a right to have secret or openmeetings, just as they pleased. "Isthe farmer to be the only man in allour society who can't have a secret organization?Do you suppose those insurancepeople, when they meet, letme know what t'ney are doing? Doyou suppose the warehouse mergers,when they meet, go out and blazon itto the world, and inform us of whattheir plans and purposes are? Thisis a free country, and the farmers havea right to organize, and to serve theirKoc+c intprpsfc hv organizationif they so desire."During t'ne' course of his addressSenator McLaurin developed his ideaof a system of rural credits. If a mancan borrow money on the product ofhis land, cotton, at 6 per cent, whycan't he borrow money on his land,the basis of all wealth, at 6 per cent?If the product of the soil has beenturned into a fluid as6et, why can'tthe land itself be turned into a fluidasset?making land what God intendedit should be, the controlling powerIll LUIO TTUUU .The state warehouse system, he explained,was a great step in the directionof an adequate and efficient systemof rural credits, which must bebrought about if we are to escape anindustrial upheaval.Both Senator McLaurin and FormerGovernor Blease were given close attention,and the audience frequentlyevidenced its sympathy and approvalby hearty applause.Every effort is being made by Condonto get some information aboutRobert X. McXeely and Robert GrantThe British admiralty informed (Mr.Skinner chat it had no informationwith regard to the fate of individualpassengers. Ai cablegram has beensent to Alexandria requesting anynews available regarding the survivUi a.The Persia sailed from London onDecember 18 for Bombay, with 61 firstclasspassengers and 83 second cabinpassengers, including eight children.Some of these, including Edward Rose,a Denver school boy, were landed atGibraltar, Marseilles and Malta. AtATr? nrr.il 1 001 noocfinft-nrc? Q T.vial ociiico paoocugtio, inv/iuuiu^ uiwomen and 25 children, were taken jaboard, bui line officials say that afterdeducting those leaving the ship atvarious ports of call, something morethan 200 passengers were on the (vessel.' A majority of the Persia's passengerswere British, bound for India, includingmany women. Her cargo wassmall, but slie carried a heavy consignmentof mail. The crew was madeup principally of Lascars.Sixty-one first-class passengers and83 cabin passengers, including eightchildren, boarded the steamship Persiaat London, according to informationobtained from the Peninsular andurientai line.At Marseilles 35 of the first-classand 32 of the second cabin boarded theboat. The company estimates that afterdeducting the number of passengersleaving the ship at her variousports of call about 160 passengerswere aboard when the vessel was sunk.Every effort is being made by ConsulGen. Skinner to get some informationabout Robert McXeely, theAmerican consul at Aden, and the twoother Americans known to be on thepassenger list. The British admiralty iniormea Jir. sKinner u naa no informationwith regard to the fate of<;he individual passengers. .Mr. Skinnersent a cablegram to the Americanconsulate at Alexandria revesting theconsul to ascertain the fate of ConsulMcXeely and the other Americans.(The Peninsular and Orien^l companystated that the Persia haa lufcLondon December IS and Marseille:December26, carrying British mailsbound for Bombay, and that she Was Jsunk off the island of Crete. Only fourboats got away from the ship. Tneseboats were picked up by a steamerbound for Alexandria and the survivorswere expected there this morning.The names of the passengers savedhave not yet been received. The company's statement says it is reared mat jthe loss of life among the passengersand crew will be heavy. Officials ofthe line say t'ney are unable to giveany information concerning Americancitizens on the Persia. They say thesteamship carried a large number ofpersons, but that no official figures areavailable as yet. Passenger lists havenot been published since the beginningof the' war.Mr. McNeely sailed from New Yorkfor England on November 27 on theHolland-American liner Ryndam. Afellow passenger was Koberr f. 5Kinner,American consul general at London.Mr. Skinner advised him to sailfor the East by the Dutch line, but theyoung man already had engaged passageon the Persia.The Persia was last reported at Maltaon December 20.The Persia was a steamer of 7,974tons gross. She was owned by thePeninsular and Oriental Steam Navigationcompany of London. She sailedfrom Bombay November 14 for Londonand was last reported as leaving Gibraltaron December 2.The Persia was one of several vesselsrecently sunk by submarines inthe eastern Mediterranean, throughwould take her from Malta. On De-1cember 24 the French liner Ville de la jCiotat was sent to the "bottom off the Iisland of Crete by a submarine which,according to unofficial British advices,flew the Austrian flag.The Persia was 'built in 1900 atGreenock. She has been in the Bombayservice since that time.On account of the danger from submarinesto vessels which pass throughthe Suez canal and the Mediterraneanthis route has been abandoned by theJapan Mail Steamship company, winchis dispatching its steamships aroundthe Cape of Good Hope. Insurancerates for ysssgjs gassiBg throu?|Suez have been increased by English<8> #<$> COTTON MARKET ?3> <$<$> dewberry. <$? Cotton liy2c <3>3> Cotton seed, per bu 60c ^<S> <$>3> Prosperity. $<$> Cotton ll^c ^^ Cotton seed, per bu...... 60c *<S> <* -v~'<S> Pomaria. ^Cotton ^^ Cotton seed, per bu 60c| $ <8><S> Little Mountain. ^Cotton 11 ^<S> Cotton seed, per bu 60ct ^^ Silverstreet ^<S> Cotton 11V4C ^Cotton seed, per bu 60c*> <s?Chappells.<S> iCotton ll%c ^<?> Cotton seed, per bu 63c ?^ ^<$> Kinards.<?> ICotton H%c 3> ..<$> Cotton seed, per bu 60c ^<8> - <$><S> Wbitmire. <?^ Cotton ll%c ^<S> Cotton seed, per fru 60c ^>'otice to Colored Teachers.Uhe Colored Teachers' associationof Newberry county will hold its secondmeeting on Saturday, January 8,1916, at 11:30 o'clock a. m., in theKoge school building, Newberry. Atthis meeting arrangements for "Fairday" will be made. All teachers areexpected to be present at this meetingor report to the superintendent of educationthe reason why.Ultysses S. Gallman,Colored Supervisor.underwriters to three or four timesUe normal figure.Lord Charles Montagu, who bookedpassage' on the Persia, is a Londonstock broker. He was born in 1860and served with the yeomanry cavak^. /| JTNEELY }VAS NATIVE \OF >ORfTH CAROLINA??? \Bom in Union Coonty?Two of Misswgr Man's Keiatires Are Jowin Columbia.Robert Xey McXeely, the Americanconsul to Aden, Arabia, who wasaboard the British liner Persia, tor^edoedThursday, was born in Union flcounty, North Carolina, where his fam- mily now lives. Two relatives, Mrs. De- Mlaney and Mrs. X. G. Ledbetter, lives inColumbia. It is presumed by relatives^that one of the other Americans onl|board the liner was his brother, Dowd?who was to be his secretary. MMr. McXeely, when appointed to tJM-Arabian post in October, 1915, wajjlcf the leading lawyers in Union ccflt;>. He is a member of a large fa?that has lived for a century orin the Waxhaw district. He was wkon the farm at College Hillceived his first educational trail*the sc'nool there. He then tauMthe public schools of his native clreceived scholastic training f?trance into a university, befon^?i-v. :?J 1.1,^ 5lllg \N LLiCIi lie L'aincu tuc 1x10.1:D. Xo. 2 out of Waxhaw. HeBthe University of North CarolinMwhich he was graduated with Wgree of LL. B. He studied la\wJudge McRae, and upon being aolto the bar in 1907 began his pflin Monroe. He was elected cleiVtreasurer of the city of Monroe iifl1907, and held that office until X<9ber, 1908, when he resigned to bela member of the legislature inHe was 32 years of age.Mr. McNeely was one of aof children of Mr. and Mrs. RobertXeely. His brother, Dowd McnMwhom he had selected to be his^tary, was editor of the WaxhawAprise; another brother, Var.cejBis a lawyer in Monroe, where?er and father with a yoimjHdaughter are now living. HtMNeely is practicing civil enflin Pennsylvania. Mr. McN?nephew of the Rev. S. R. BelMgia and a cousin or r. k. tfeMCarolina, the father of MrJ|184 Mf?:was-in Cohn^Jbia yesterday*